Meet Christian J Williams | Photographer / Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christian J Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christian J, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Originally I was not pursuing photography and videography as a career. It was always something that I thought would be neat to do for a living but I didn’t think it was realistically possible to do. I was always shooting photos and eventually taking videos for fun. First it started with capturing what adventures my friends and I were going on. Then it progressed to taking photos of our cars. Freelance jobs would slowly become available here and there. Finally I was out of college looking for a job now more or less knowing that I wanted to pursue something creative. I was lucky enough to find a job that aligned with what I was already shooting for fun and freelance. As of now, I am just now stepping into the world of working for myself full-time. My greatest motivation for making this decision is having full control over my time, allowing me to experience new opportunities regarding what I get to shoot.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The niches that I am focused in regarding my work are that of the automotive and outdoor adventure genres. These encompass what makes me as person. My hobbies have always involved, bike riding, camping, backpacking, cars, etc. Since these are the things that make me happy, creating art that involve these things also make me happy, therefore that is what I want to do.

Photography and Videography was never something in the beginning that I purposely worked toward getting good at. Since I was always going out on my own to shoot photos, I was naturally progressing my skill. It wasn’t in a forceful way like going to class to learn. I feel that if I was forcing my self to learn photography and videography, then I would not of ended up loving it so much. Eventually as I started making real money from it, then the time did come where I needed to learn certain things that I hadn’t already knew. By that time it wasn’t a chore for me because I was already so in to it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had a friend visiting LA, I would take them to some of the places that I often find myself photographing in. Some of these include going up to the Malibu area, Santa Monica Pier, Angeles Forest, DTLA, and Vasquez Rocks (Just outside LA). I’m not much a foodie so I would just eat wherever is cheapest. As for drinks, if the person enjoys partying I would take them to a few bars in the Santa Monica area such as Jameson’s or the Victorian. Living in LA most of my life, I don’t treasure a lot of the things that a tourist might be wowed by, such as going to seeing the Hollywood sign, seeing the stars on the ground, etc. Perhaps if my friend wanted to do some of those things then I would go take them to do that then. It would be a first for me to see the Hollywood sign. LA is a super cool place because it offers so much to do. If you want to go to the city, it’s there. If you want to visit the snow, it’s near by. The beach, etc.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are a lot of people who are responsible for where I am today.

Mum (Astrid Conte-Williams) – She has always been very optimistic of my capabilities, which has perhaps helped me to believe in myself at times.

Dad (Jon Williams) – Allowing me the privilege to go to college and grow by myself. Without knowing so at first, it allowed me to really put in a lot of time into a craft that would eventually dictate what I am doing today, even if it wasn’t what I studied.

My best friend Christian (Christian Meyer) (yes he has the same name hah) – On a countless number of occasions, he has let me take pictures of his numerous cars which allowed me to slowly build my skills and portfolio. As well as being a big reason for why I started making videos.

My best friend Sam (Sam Donner) – One of the main reasons that I am now starting this journey of working for myself, he is the biggest believer of owning your own time. Especially now living with him, and being so close to him (living in the same bedroom…), his lifestyle has greatly impacted mine as it has given me the confidence to pursue working for myself full-time.

My roomate Ysabel (Ysabel Chavez) – The person who not only recommended me for the is interview but also works for herself full-time. Seeing her starting from the ground up has also given me the confidence to give working for myself full time a try.

Blaque Diamond – My previous full time job. Eric and Alex Aydin, the owners gave me a shot at shooting their media full-time. This two year period of my life which has recently ended, definitely helped me to grow my skills and portfolio, especially regarding my video work.

Website: https://christianjwilliamsphotography.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christian_j_williams/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-j-williams-aa5b03172/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/christian_j_wil

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaV7l_bmkgVe3JF4GV0QbDw

Image Credits
My Images.